Quiksilver Shares Surged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of clothing designer Quiksilver (NYS: ZQK) were soaring today, gaining as much as 14% in intraday trading after the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter results.

So what: We're still a few weeks out from the start of fourth-quarter earnings season for most companies, but the Huntington-Beach-based Quiksilver released the results for its fiscal year -- which ended Oct. 31 -- after yesterday's close.

The company's stock has been thrashed this year as Quiksilver has struggled and reported losses, but the recent quarter showed some promise. Fourth-quarter earnings per share missed analysts' estimates -- clocking in at $0.06 versus the expected $0.07 -- but revenue wowed investors. Sales for the quarter were $545 million against Wall Street's expectation of $524 million. Same-store sales in the Americas region leapt 16% from a year ago.

Now what: As good as investors may be feeling about the past quarter's results, the real reason behind the stock's big bump today is probably the optimism that it creates for the future. If Quiksilver can continue to show incremental improvement in its financial performance, shareholders will no doubt watch the beleaguered stock follow.

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